The Virtual Memories Show
A weekly conversation about books, art, comics and culture -- not necessarily in that order. Hosted by Gil Roth
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Episode 684 - Ali Trotta
07/21/2026
Episode 684 - Ali Trotta
With her debut poetry collection, (Clash Books), brings myth, magick, tarot, and ritual to bear on the eternal & primal struggle of women. We talk about those roots and how tarot and ancient myth inspired her work, where tarot began for her — '90s, The Craft — and how past guest resparked her interest and showed her new depths in the cards, and her focus on revising ancient myths to retell the stories of wronged women like Persephone, Medusa, and Dido. We get into how she feels at seeing her work collected and how to look at her development as a poet without cringing at her younger selves, how everything is fair game and poetry can serve as exorcism, and how confession can be deeply coded in a poem. We also discuss the teacher who gave her the tools to read poetry deeply, her Very Online-ness and how she's built relationships and writer communities online (and how it's good to be part of the Group-Chat), her online #tinypoem flurries and how rockstar she felt when someone got a tattoo of one on their arm, the project(s) she'd love to write, and more. PLUS: She reads a few of her poems and gives me my second tarot reading of the summer! Follow Ali on , and , and subscribe to • More info • Support The Virtual Memories Show via , , or , and subscribe to
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Episode 683 - R Sikoryak
07/14/2026
Episode 683 - R Sikoryak
Let's celebrate/commemorate America's independence with an amazing new double book, (Drawn & Quarterly). R. Sikoryak rejoins the show to talk about adapting foundational American documents (verbatim!) with a mind-blowing array of comic art parodies, ranging from the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers to Jump Start to Check, Please! to Thanos! We talk about how this project spun out of his in 2020, why he decided to include the Emancipation Proclamation and the Gettysburg Address alongside the Declaration of Independence, how he gave himself some pretty strict rules about which artists and characters he could and couldn't use, including not re-using artists he used in his Constitution (which meant employing 200 different artists' styles over the course of these books), and his goal of trying to bring the whole history of American comics into these books. We get into what it's all taught him about America, the ways these documents show how America changed, why he doesn't take offense at being a called a rip-off artist, and why he conceives of these books like a quilt. We also discuss whether he's more sensitive about parodying art by living artists or dead ones, why he wants to get back to comics-parody adaptations of classic books and plays, the ways that access to comprehensive digital comics archives is both good and bad for his work, the artists he wishes could have included in these books, why he brought in many African-American artists and characters in the Emancipation portion of the book, but still found room for Barney Google & Snuffy Smith, the page that almost broke him (okay, it was his parody), his series of 8-page comics stories for (!), and a lot more. Follow Bob on and • More info • Support The Virtual Memories Show via , , or , and subscribe to
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Episode 682 - Katie Skelly
07/07/2026
Episode 682 - Katie Skelly
After a 12-year Virtual Memoriesgap, is back to celebrate her fantastic new graphic novel, (Fantagraphics)! But that's not all: she's also got the (Kickstarter closing July 16, 2026), her horror comics anthology, , and the podcast! We talk about how she restructured her life and creativity post-lockdown, how she wound up marrying , moving to LA, abandoning the Mets, and finding a community of cartoonists (spoiler: community is the thread that runs through Katie's art and life), the funny tweet about The Weeknd that inspired HEAVEN, why she designed this new tarot deck to be like a prop for a movie you'd want to live in, and why she didn't learn from my example and avoid making her own podcast. We get into how writing broke her, and the episode in Ed's life that she takes as a cautionary note, the festival that drew her into the comics world, how she measures herself against her yearly Nabokov read, why she's pretty much done with social media, the flight delay that led to her next comics project, and more! PLUS, Katie reads my tarot as we talk about what it'll take for me to finish my book! Follow Katie on , and subscribe to her and the (co-hosted by Sally Madden) • More info • Support The Virtual Memories Show via , , or , and subscribe to
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Episode 681 - Colin Asher
06/30/2026
Episode 681 - Colin Asher
With his amazing new book, (WW Norton), author explores how the criminal justice system changed the course of twentieth century music. We talk about how Elmo Hope's album inspired the book, how he chose the five artists to focus on — Huddie "Lead Belly" Ledbetter, Elmo Hope, Johnny Cash, Ike White, and Tupac Shakur —, the history of the carceral state, criminality and the popular images of Black and white "outlaw" artists, and how many artists' careers were shaped, derailed, inspired by prisons. We get into the tightrope act of using Johnny Cash as a counterpoint to the racial dynamics of the book (as well as the work Cash did for prison reform), why he had to close the book with the story of Tupac and his mother, , and how hip-hop developed in response to America's mass incarceration movement, how the philosophy of incarceration shifted from rehabilitation to punishment, 's work to bring music education into prisons, and what it means to pursue the arts for personal growth, even when you're on death row. We also discuss how some arts writing can suck the joy out of the arts, why he prefers discussing art in relation to society rather than in relation to other works of art, why he made , how playing vinyl records makes music a choice instead of wallpaper, the "burn the world down and replace it with an utopia" phase of his youth, the secret origins of his writing career, his dream projects (incl. the novel he's noodling on), and more. Follow Colin on • More info • Support The Virtual Memories Show via , , or , and subscribe to
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Episode 680 - Kate Maruyama and Me
06/24/2026
Episode 680 - Kate Maruyama and Me
During my recent LA weekend, I asked author, pal, and past guest if she’d be interested in interviewing me, and for some crazy reason, she said yes! So this time around you get me doing my best not to ask the questions, and just letting it fly, as we talk about the history of the podcast, my dream list of pod-guests, my semi-fake erudition, why we should practice arts we're no good at, my thoughts on mortality and progeny, the gentle change of years, the legend of the fire defenses of the Beinecke Library at Yale, and a ton of stories. Follow Kate on and , and subscribe to • More info • Support The Virtual Memories Show via , , or , and subscribe to
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Episode 679 - Heather Cass White
06/14/2026
Episode 679 - Heather Cass White
“A letter is a joy of Earth — It is denied the Gods —,” sez Emily Dickinson (#1672), and (Yale University Press) proves it! rejoins the show to talk about editing 's letters for the book, her history with him and what she learned about him over the course of the project, and how the letters revealed a less determined Bloom and how she empathized with the struggles he went through in his career. We get into the people whose correspondence she included — Alvin Feinman, Northrop Frye, AR Ammons, John Hollander, John Ashbery, James Merrill, , and Ursula K Le Guin — and all the writers and critics she wishes she could have included, the books and projects Bloom proposed but never completed (or started) over the years, the fun she had writing the footnotes, the one person Bloom was intimidated to meet, Bloom's role in the Canon Wars 30-40 years ago (and my practice of checking off books from The List at the end of ), where he fell on Ashbery vs. Ammons, and whether marriage is the true subject of literature. We also discuss how her next book on the correspondence of Elizabeth Bishop and Marianne Moore is the opposite of this one, her go-to books to teach American fiction, why she dropped out of Knausgaard before the finish line, how students have & haven't changed over a quarter century of teaching, her late arrival to Surfjan Stevens' music, how I solved her long-standing question about a moment from Bloom's memorial, and a lot more. Follow Heather on • More info • Support The Virtual Memories Show via , , or , and subscribe to
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Episode 678 - Paul Gravett
06/06/2026
Episode 678 - Paul Gravett
Happy Pride! Let's get Queer As Comics! Writer, critic, curator, publisher and broadcaster rejoins the show to talk about curating a fabulous new exhibition, , to help launch the ! We talk about what makes comics queer (it's not just an issue of sexuality), the artists and comics he wishes he could have included in the show, the challenges of exhibiting comics as opposed to paintings, and why Queer As Comics' survey of 65 artists covering 80 years of history "starts with the Finnish" (as in and ). We also get into the endlessness of Tove Jansson's life & creativity (and why Paul's committed to writing a big book about her anyway), his first exposure to queer comics (and again, why all comics are queer), how it feels to see the come to life and to see still making art in his 90s, and more. • More info • Support The Virtual Memories Show via , , or , and subscribe to
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Episode 677 - Luis Mendo
05/26/2026
Episode 677 - Luis Mendo
Welcome to Mundo Mendo! I visited artist and writer in Karuizawa, Japan for a wide-ranging conversation about art, creativity, community and more. We talk about how he left design and embraced drawing and illustration, why he created the platform so fans/members can support his art and stories (and get an annual print edition of his work), the limits of money and the joy of making art, and how artists can escape "working for Mr. Zuckerberg" and stop chasing likes on Instagram. We get into how internal change has to be accompanied by an external change, the challenge of not having a client, his critique of AI "art", and the tension between world of numbers & metrics and the world of serendipity. We also discuss the creative residency he & his wife ran, , his love of old movies, how the creative life can be a chain of projects, what brought him to Japan and what keeps him there (even if he feels like a foreigner wherever he is), his newsletter that , why I should be a male model in Japan, and a lot more. (Plus, after the conversation I share a story about my Japan business trip and some Kafkaesque flop-sweat moments.) Follow Luis on and , and support and subscribe to • More info • Support The Virtual Memories Show via , , or , and subscribe to
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Episode 676 - Benoit Denizet-Lewis
05/05/2026
Episode 676 - Benoit Denizet-Lewis
Can people change? How continuous is identity? With (William Morrow), explores the concepts of personal change and change-in-the-world, the ways we find identities and community, and the peril of changing into our parents (haha). We talk about how we define change and transformation, what happens when we think we've changed but the people in our lives don't notice any difference, how his husband feared that he would change too much in the writing of the book, and how the American narrative of change equals "overcoming one's problems." We get into how he made his own story of change and addiction part of the book (while guarding his privacy), whether change involves finding a core self or something new, whether redemption is possible for people who committed heinous crimes, what happened the time he got scientifically tested about his sexual preferences, and the chapter he wishes he could've included in the book. We also discuss who he's reading, whether the therapy that works for him now would have helped when he was younger, how one can prioritize one's own happiness while the world is (let's say) ending, his hallucinations in , and a lot more. Follow Benoit on and • More info • Support The Virtual Memories Show via , , or , and subscribe to
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Episode 675 - Clare Carlisle
04/29/2026
Episode 675 - Clare Carlisle
Philosopher and biographer converses & communes with me over her new book, (NYRB). We talk about her existential moment of being invited to give the on natural theology and how it led her wonder what she could say about the knowledge of God, how writing biographies raised philosophical questions on the nature of a life in its entirety, how flexible the notion of transcendence is (and why it doesn't have to be "rising above" the world so much as "spreading out" into it), how the lecture mode and how it offered her an opportunity for a different writing voice, and how she adapted those pieces into this book. We get into the possibility of communion and transmission, the tension between biography and philosophy, the harmfulness of the notion of attainment and what that implies of the seeking of wisdom, and what happens if you're like Kierkegaard and you hear The Call but don't know what it's calling you to do. We also discuss her philosophical love affair with Spinoza and his philosophy of interconnectedness, the bridge she discovered between Spinoza and Indian traditions, the influence of past guest on the lectures, and more. • More info • Support The Virtual Memories Show via , , or , and subscribe to
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Episode 674 - Josh Alan Friedman
04/25/2026
Episode 674 - Josh Alan Friedman
Pull up a chair, enjoy a kasha varnishke, and listen to me and talk about his kaleidoscopic novel, (Wyatt Doyle Books/New Texture)! We talk about the momentous years he spent in Great Neck as a kid and why he set his novel in 1970, the ne'er-do-wells and drug addicts he knew (and emulated) in school, how Great Neck has changed since his "glory days," and the larger-than-life Yiddishkeit ghost who haunts the novel. We get into how he managed to weave Irving Berlin, Floyd Patterson, and Leslie West into the story, how his wife got him to finish the book by putting up post-it notes in their kitchen about each chapter, and how he reconstructed 1970 Great Neck from his collection of the notes girls used to pass in schools and the letters his friends sent him from reform school. We also discuss life after losing his dad, , in 2020, how he used to take his 14-year-old pals to see showings of Bruce Jay's play so they could catch the nude scene, how it felt to see pieces of his childhood transformed in his dad's stories (incl. a visit to Las Vegas), what's left of the New York of his heyday and why he misses Joe Franklin, the play he's writing about his chauffeur days, his retirement from his lifelong guitar career after a carpal tunnel diagnosis, and more. Follow Josh on and • More info • Support The Virtual Memories Show via , , or , and subscribe to
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Episode 673 - Andrew Durbin
04/14/2026
Episode 673 - Andrew Durbin
With (FSG), brings us a masterful biography of a pair of artists, their art, gay life pre- and post-Stonewall, and more. We talk about his first exposure to each of their art, why he restricted the biography to the years Paul and Peter were together/around each other (1956-1975), how queer lives are often oriented around death and why he wanted to affirm life with this book, when a biographer can let his subjects go, and why he prefers Thek over Hujar. We get into the ephemerality of much of Thek's art installations, Hujar's dissatisfaction with commercial photography and the struggles with getting photos taken seriously as art, the triangle they formed with Andrew's hero, Susan Sontag, Thek's belief that marrying the right woman (Sontag, at one point) would have "fixed" him, his regret at not getting to interview Joseph Raffael for the book, and how meeting Ann Wilson changed the course of the book. We also discuss how Andrew became an art-writer/-editor by accident, how NYC has changed since he left 6 years ago, why young people are enthusiastic about his Thek and Hujar, why he needs to decompress from writing about history, how art criticism feeds his fiction and poetry, and more. Follow Andrew on and • More info • Support The Virtual Memories Show via , , or , and subscribe to
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Episode 672 - Dean Haspiel and Doug Latino
04/09/2026
Episode 672 - Dean Haspiel and Doug Latino
With (Cosmic Lion Productions), editors and bring together 66 fantastic cartoonists and writers to tell 51 autobiographical comic stories about NYC . . . and I'm among them! We got together to talk about the book & its publishing history, the incredible lineup Dean and Doug have assembled (including ~20 of my past pod-guests — like Roz Chast, Drew Friedman, Jonathan Ames, Karl Stevens, Jennifer Hayden, Ben Katchor, and Moby — and a ton of other great cartoonists!), why no one's made a New York City-centric autobio-comics anthology before, what makes for an "Only In New York" story & why I went with a tough one for my 2-page comic, and why (ending May 8, 2026) to help bring it to print! (Yes, we talk about other stuff, like My Joe Franklin Story, what I've learned on hiatus, what Doug & Dean have learned about editing, the challenges of bringing non-comics-writers into the book, why I don't 'think' comics, my favorite Deadly Sin, and more.) Follow Dean on and , and subscribe to his • Follow Doug on and • More info • Support The Virtual Memories Show via , , or , and subscribe to
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Episode 671 - Rachel Tzvia Back
03/03/2026
Episode 671 - Rachel Tzvia Back
With (Wesleyan University Press), poet-translator-professor explores her life with high-functioning depression, weaving Ancient Greek myth, poetry, family history, interviews, and more into an amazing tapestry of life in the dark forest. We talk about the challenge of structuring the arc-less nature of depression, the shame of not being completely debilitated by her illness, how the myth of Demeter and Persephone helped her translate and understand her experience as a mother and a daughter, what it means to be the mother who fails and why she included interviews with her adult children in the book, whether there's a therapeutic aspect to writing a memoir like this, and how much of a departure this book was from her poet-roots. We also get into how she found herself in Greek and Roman myths in contrast to her orthodox Jewish upbringing, how she manages to bridge the Athens and Jerusalem divide as a teacher, her family's roots in Israel and what the country has become since she moved back 40+ years ago, what it's like to live life under rockets and how normalizing it affects us, our takes on Achilles and Odysseus, and more. More info • Support The Virtual Memories Show via , , or , and subscribe to
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Episode 670 - Sven Birkerts
02/07/2026
Episode 670 - Sven Birkerts
Essayist , one of my favorite past pod-guests, welcomes me back to the mic for a conversation about writing, art, mortality, resistance, technology, and selling rare books! We talk about what he's learned about writing from his essay-experiment, how he rediscovered his with his daughter, what he gets from audiobooks, the pros and cons of knowing your audience, and more. Plus, I talk about my , what I've learned from stepping back from the weekly podcast routine, why I'd like to see Dylan play one more time before one or the other of us is gone, and where this podcast might be going, among other stuff. Follow Sven on , subscribe to his , and check out his and his daughter's rare bookstore, Birkbooks, at and • More info • Support The Virtual Memories Show via , , or , and subscribe to
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Episode 670 - Sven Birkerts
02/07/2026
Episode 670 - Sven Birkerts
Essayist , one of my favorite past pod-guests, welcomes me back to the mic for a conversation about writing, art, mortality, resistance, technology, and selling rare books! We talk about what he's learned about writing from his essay-experiment, how he rediscovered his with his daughter, what he gets from audiobooks, the pros and cons of knowing your audience, and more. Plus, I talk about my , what I've learned from stepping back from the weekly podcast routine, why I'd like to see Dylan play one more time before one or the other of us is gone, and where this podcast might be going, among other stuff. Follow Sven on , subscribe to his , and check out his and his daughter's rare bookstore, Birkbooks, at and • More info • Support The Virtual Memories Show via , , or , and subscribe to
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Episode 669 - Indefinite Hiatus
12/29/2025
Episode 669 - Indefinite Hiatus
For his 2025 year-end wrap-up, Gil's putting the podcast & newsletter on hiatus: talk about your crazy New Year's resolutions! He talks about how he recognized It Was Time For A Break, whether or not this podcast is what gives his life meaning, what he might get up to (HINT: it's WAY past time he finishes writing his Instax book), and how months of depression after his dad's death left him feeling like he was out of options. He gets into his 2025 highlights and why he needed to visit his photo library to overcome his amnesia, the hairiness of his professional life, the thrill of receiving holiday cards from his arts-heroes, the blessings of this world, and a lot more. It's the last episode for a while, so GIVE IT A LISTEN! • More info • Support The Virtual Memories Show via , , or , and subscribe to
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Episode 668 - The Guest List 2025
12/23/2025
Episode 668 - The Guest List 2025
It’s time for our year-end Virtual Memories Show tradition, now celebrating its thirteenth anniversary: ! I reached out to 2025’s pod-guests and asked them about the favorite book(s) they read in the past year, as well as the books or authors they’re hoping to read in 2026! Twenty-six guests responded with wonderful, idiosyncratic, and illuminating book recommendations: Jonathan Ames, Kayla E., Dan Goldman, Dean Haspiel, Jennifer Hayden, Rian Hughes, Paul Karasik, Glenn Kurtz, David Leopold, Seth Lorinczi, Sacha Mardou, Kate Maruyama, Whitney Matheson, Josh Neufeld, Lance Richardson, Ari Richter, ML Rio, Dmitry Samarov, Jonathan Sandler, Damion Searls, David Shields, Peter Stothard, Tom Tomorrow, Peter Trachtenberg, Cecile Wajsbrot, and Mia Wolff (and me)! This annnual episode of The Virtual Memories Show offers up a that you’re going to want to read in the new year!
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Episode 667 - Jonathan Sandler
12/16/2025
Episode 667 - Jonathan Sandler
Let's close out 2025 with graphic memoirist and comics journalist ! We talk about his childhood secret origin in comics, the comics course in 2017 that brought him back to the form, the process of turning his grandfather's WWII memoir into a comic, (with art by Brian Bicknell), and how he really became a comics aficionado after publishing his first graphic novel. We get into how he started the blog and began reviewing comics, interviewing cartoonists, visiting exhibitions, and spreading the comics gospel, and why this very podcast has . We also discuss what he's learned from and about interviewing, why he's started drawing his own comics, why he's glad he dived into making The English GI instead of researching all the other WWII graphic novels out there, what the late meant to me and everyone else he met, why the most difficult thing about making comics is choosing what to put in the panels, and more. Follow Jonathan on and subscribe to • More info • Support The Virtual Memories Show via , , or , and subscribe to
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Episode 666 - Morten Hoi Jensen
12/09/2025
Episode 666 - Morten Hoi Jensen
With (Yale University Press), brings us a masterful biography of one of the great novels of the 20th century and shows how it and its author speak to our present moment. We talk about Morten's history with Mann's novel, his weeks of research in the sanatoria of Davos and his discovery of how much of 's world is intact a century later, and how Mann's novel changed for him in the process of writing this book. We get into Mann's political transformation from a nationalist into an antifascist, how art & politics can make for a disastrous mix, Mann's rivalry with his novelist brother Heinrich, and what it was like to write about a novel about life in a TB clinic while in the middle of a pandemic. We also discuss the weird connection I draw between Mann and Thomas Pynchon, how Morten became a literary biographer via the biography of another novel, spiritualism before and after WWI, how he came around on the chapter of The Magic Mountain that bored him in his earlier readings, why Robert Musil resented Mann, whether it's okay to write margin notes and never look at them, and more. Follow Morten on and • More info • Support The Virtual Memories Show via , , or , and subscribe to
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Episode 665 - Prue Shaw
12/02/2025
Episode 665 - Prue Shaw
With her amazing new book, (Liveright), scholar brings us a canto-by-canto journey through Dante's masterwork, interweaving translated verses with her commentary, and serving as a Virgil-like guide to the poem. We talk about how she was inspired by John Carey's , why the Paradiso was her biggest challenge, how the poem has changed for her over the course of her life, and why she went with prose translations of Dante rather than verse. We get into Dante's balance of pride in his art and his humility before God, the modern sound of Dante's verse and the challenge of translating Italian into English, what she's learning from helping translate Shelley into Italian, why she wants The Essential Commedia to serve as a gateway drug into Dante, and the nature of language & why the Tower of Babel plays a big role in the Commedia. We also discuss her incredible work on third edition of the , life after the death of her husband, Clive James, and putting a collection of his final poems together, how turned me on to Dante as a kid, my changing views on Ulysses in the Commedia, why sloth is my fave of the deadly sins, and more. More info • Support The Virtual Memories Show via , , or , and subscribe to
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Episode 664 - Glenn Kurtz
11/18/2025
Episode 664 - Glenn Kurtz
Who were the men who built the Empire State Building? returns to the show to tell their story with (Seven Stories Press). We talk about how he accidentally fell into this project, how "turn every page" led him to a key discovery about 's photos of the Empire State construction, how his experience researching and writing helped him with this book, his childhood connection with the Empire State, and how identifying their subjects affects the mythic aura of Hine's photographs. We get into the corporate perspective of the building and how it dehumanizes the workers who built it, and similarly how that heroic collectivist notion of The Worker devalues workers as people, whether craftsmanship and artisanship survived the transition into mass production during the skyscraper era, Hine's authorial fallacy and the genius of his portraits, and what the Empire State says about the immigration-dynamics of the workforce and the role of unions, We also discuss the question of context and how the question, "What are we looking at?" can reveal the world, the resonance of , the messiness of history, the joy of Virginia Woolf's diaries, why Glenn just wants to write a novel without it inspiring a nonfiction project, and more. Follow Glenn on and • More info • Support The Virtual Memories Show via , , or , and subscribe to
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Episode 663 - Jennifer Hayden
11/11/2025
Episode 663 - Jennifer Hayden
Who knew that olive oil makes head lice sleepy? rejoins the show to celebrate her new graphic memoir/anti-cookbook, (Top Shelf), share comedic tales of domestic mess, and rebel against the expectations of wife/motherhood. We talk about the lifetime of bad cooking that led to this new book, the revenge of turning her bad experiences into comedy, how she found a unique form to tell her story, and how a youthful reading of Babar left her with a lifelong phobia of mushrooms. We get into how she was reverse-inspired by Lucy Knisley's , how watercolors gave her a color toolbox for her comics, what this book taught her about storytelling, and how her daughter diagnosed her as "expectation-allergic." We also discuss how she's been cheating on comics with , what life after memoir is like, how doubled as a last will & testament for her family, the process of finding a new creative process and narrative voice, her shamanic experience attending The Moth, the significance of the tarot card she repeatedly draws when she's hard at work on a book, why the folk names of herbs are like edible emotion, and more. Follow Jennifer on and , and subscribe to • More info • Support The Virtual Memories Show via , , or , and subscribe to
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Episode 662 - Rian Hughes
11/05/2025
Episode 662 - Rian Hughes
Multi-hyphenate rejoins the show to celebrate his new Kickstarter, (closing November 20, 2025)! We talk about designing and publishing a catalog-collection of every font he ever designed for , how the Kickstarter has proved a lot more successful than he was expecting, seeing one of his fonts showing up on , and how typography means designing a form without content. We get into the history of type design and how he approaches new design with respect for his precursors, the serendipity that led to one of his best-known fonts, how he balances commercial work with pushing the limits of design in personal projects, the artist's trajectory from inspired amateur to spent expert, how he knows when one of his fonts has been ripped off, and his take on AI in illustration and type design. We also discuss his new novel and how it fits with and , the pros and cons of advertising work, designing the new EC Horror comics, the next Kickstarter he's considering, how he used to keep three different portfolios until he realized it was All Rian and integrated them into one, why his creative mind leaves him with zero interest in meditation, and more. Follow Rian on and • More info • Support The Virtual Memories Show via , , or , and subscribe to
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Episode 661 - Josh Neufeld
10/28/2025
Episode 661 - Josh Neufeld
Comics journalist joins the show to talk about the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and the legacy of his fantastic graphic reporting of the lives upended by that catastrophe, (Pantheon). We talk about his new 'zine followup, , how the storm inspired him to become an emergency response volunteer and what he learned when he was stationed in Biloxi, what it was like to learn journalism and reporting on the fly and integrate those with his comics storytelling skills, and why his goal with A.D. was to make a people's history. We get into how he viewed the anniversary, whether he's gone back to New Orleans since reporting on it, and how he stayed connected with his subjects after the project and what it was like putting the anniversary 'zine together. We also discuss his comics upbringing, what it was like drawing for Harvey Pekar after years of American Splendor fandom, how constraints can lead to greater creativity, how neither of us have the lying gene necessary for fiction, his interest in graphic medicine and how that shapes his recent comics, the difference between journalism and nonfiction, a couple of my anecdotes, how Michael Jordan's minor league baseball experience helps explain why comics people (usually) treat newbies well, and more. Follow Josh on , and • More info • Support The Virtual Memories Show via , , or , and subscribe to
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Episode 660 - Dean Haspiel and Whitney Matheson
10/24/2025
Episode 660 - Dean Haspiel and Whitney Matheson
Cartoonist-playwright-filmmaker rejoins the show for the homestretch of his new Kickstarter, (finishing Nov. 3, 2025), and brings his studio mate along to talk about her new story collection, . We talk about how Dino got the idea for a one-man anthology to contain all the characters & stories of his Dino-verse, new models for funding creative projects, and how promotion can be tough when you accidentally get banned on . They give me creative advice to help me get through my own book project, talk about their lessons from crowdfunding and self-publishing, and come up with a great idea for a new book, while we cope with some technical difficulties. Follow Dean on , support his , and buy stuff on his , and follow Whitney on , support her , and buy stuff on her • More info • Support The Virtual Memories Show via , , or , and subscribe to
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Episode 659 - Ron Rosenbaum
10/21/2025
Episode 659 - Ron Rosenbaum
One of my fave writers, , returns to the show to celebrate his amazing new book, (Melville House Press). We talk about how his lifetime fandom of Dylan led to this book, why he opted for a biographical meditation over strict biography, the week he spent with Dylan in the '70s for , what our response to Dylan's songs say about us, and how he got over his sense of betrayal when Dylan joined a Jesus-cult for a few years. We get into his insight into Dylan's Nobel acceptance and the Rosebud-moment therein, the question of theodicy (radical evil) and Dylan's argument with God, Ron's experience falling in love with someone to Dylan's songs, and how Dylan's post-Jesus songwriting methods became a reflection of his One-Mind consciousness. We also discuss authenticity vs. sincerity, the discontinuity of being, the impact of Salinger & Dylan on American language and outlook, Ron's top 20-ish of Dylan's songs, in the '70s and how it may have led to his crack-up (and why Ron thinks it should be reissued), and more. Follow Ron on • More info • Support The Virtual Memories Show via , , or , and subscribe to
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Episode 658 - Lance Richardson
10/14/2025
Episode 658 - Lance Richardson
Writer rejoins the show to celebrate his magnificent new biography, (Pantheon). We talk about his youthful introduction to Peter Matthiessen via , how this project grew beyond his (& his publisher's) original concept, the health risks of following PM's trek through Nepal to the Crystal Monastery and the fleetingness of his time there, and which of PM's many hyphens he focuses on (novelist-naturalist-Zen roshi). We get into Matthiessen's journey into American Zen, the problematic nature of race and gender in PM's life and work, PM's fixation on Bigfoot and how that shifted to the notional, the Paris Review/CIA connection that everyone asks about, and how Matthiessen's widow came to trust Lance with the project. We also discuss , the financial challenges of long-term writing projects (this one took eight years), getting over self-doubt and learning from his previous biography of , enjoying the research-hunt of biography more than the writing, what his literary upbringing in Australia was like, whether he came to like or despite Matthiessen, and more! Plus, I monologue-ramble about my 20,000th day on earth and the pod-retirement of ! Follow Lance on and and listen to • More info • Support The Virtual Memories Show via , , or , and subscribe to
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Episode 657 - Tom Tomorrow
10/07/2025
Episode 657 - Tom Tomorrow
Political cartoonist (a.k.a. Dan Perkins) is back as we celebrate his new Kickstarter project, (closing Oct. 30, 2025, so ), collecting 5+ years of weekly cartoons! We talk about how he keeps his sanity (well, tries to), what it was like to look back at the past half-decade week by week, why he decided not to go down a rabbit-hole of extra material for the project, and what it means to have a bookshelf of his strips (and not just pixels on a screen). We get into the importance of his as the media landscape keeps withering away, his writing process and how the, um, of this administration compels him to build some flexibility each week, and the realization that he's made a major body of work over the past four decades. We also discuss his major life changes since we last recorded, the good and bad of Being Very Online, his love of Martin Cruz Smith's , what makes him a New Yorker, and the impossibly fraught question of what brings him joy. Follow Tom Tomorrow on and , subscribe to , and check out his merch from and . Oh, and you can follow This Modern World on and/or • More info • Support The Virtual Memories Show via , , or , and subscribe to
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Episode 656 - Kayla E
10/01/2025
Episode 656 - Kayla E
With her debut graphic novel, (Fantagraphics), artist and designer explores and investigates the trauma of her upbringing, the fragments of her memories, and the process of reintegration. We talk about why comics were the perfect form for this project, how she found her iconography and the postwar children's comics style for it, what it was like to uncover her memories and get them on the page, how it feels to give her story to her readers, and how she's learning to respond when her readers share their trauma with her. We get into her comics-roots, what it was like to hit up her comics heroes, how she felt the moment told her she had a book on her hands, why Harvard is bad for getting a comics education, how her work as a graphic designer dovetailed with the incredible production of Precious Rubbish. We also discuss her recovery and her conversion experience, why her Bible kinda begins and ends with the Book of Job, her years of worry that she'd turn out as psychopathic as her parents and brother, why the Sopranos is her favorite work of art, what it means to not be loved by one's parents, and more. Follow Kayla on • More info • Support The Virtual Memories Show via , , or , and subscribe to
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